Vehicle wash control system

ABSTRACT

A vehicle wash control system for controlling the amount of wash product applied to a vehicle based on environmental or other conditions, sensed locally or controlled/sensed remotely. The vehicle wash control system generally includes one or more electronic control valves that may be controlled by a control unit that receives inputs from a sensor or remotely which adjusts the flow of wash products responsive to the inputs.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable to this application.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable to this application.

BACKGROUND Field

Exemplary embodiments in general relate to a vehicle wash control systemfor controlling or varying the level of vehicle washes depending onweather conditions, vehicle condition, or other variables.

Related Art

Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should inno way be considered as an admission that such related art is widelyknown or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

Vehicle washes are comprised of various types of facilities capable ofwashing various types of vehicles (e.g. cars, trucks, planes, trains)such as but not limited to self-service manual vehicle washes, in-bayautomatic vehicle washes, and tunnel vehicle washes. Vehicle washesdispense various types of products including but not limited to water,detergent, protective coatings (e.g. wax, polish), tire dressing,coloring, spot free rinse and the like.

A vehicle wash needs to accurately control the amount of productdispensed to ensure a quality wash of a vehicle and to avoid wastingcostly products. Rather than always providing a fixed amount of productunder all conditions, it would be advantageous to be able to vary theamount of product or other factors to achieve an optimal wash withoutwasting products.

SUMMARY

The vehicle wash control system includes a product dispensing systemthat includes a wash product supply fluidly connected to one or morecontrol valves under the control of one or more control units. Thecontrol valves operate at an open/close ratio (e.g., duty cycle) thatallows the amount of wash product used on each vehicle to vary, and thecontrol unit or units allow for the control of the amount based on anynumber of variables, such as season, location, weather conditions, washduration, vehicle speed in the vehicle wash, a vehicle conveyor speed,vehicle wash equipment speed, the desired level of vehicle cleanliness,dirt level, chemicals, variations in chemical product condition (e.g.viscosity and/or temperature of chemical product), or other materialspresent on vehicles, etc. The variables may be sensed or otherwisedetermined by one or more sensors in communication with the controlunit.

Further, the control unit may vary the amount of product based on inputsreceived locally or remotely, and may be under automatic or manualcontrol in either the remote or local control scheme.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, some of the embodiments ofthe vehicle wash control system in order that the detailed descriptionthereof may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additionalembodiments of the vehicle wash control system that will be describedhereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims foundbelow. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of thevehicle wash control system in detail, it is to be understood that thevehicle wash control system is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction or to the arrangements of the components setforth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Thevehicle wash control system is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understoodthat the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purposeof the description and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings,wherein like elements are represented by like reference characters,which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limiting ofthe embodiments herein.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle wash control system inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an overall view of communications that may be usedwith exemplary embodiments of the system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary vehicle wash controlsystem.

FIG. 4a is a chart illustrating a first open/close ratio (duty cycle)for an control valve.

FIG. 4b is a chart illustrating a second open/close ratio (duty cycle)for an control valve.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the overall operation of anembodiment of the present system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A. Overview

An exemplary embodiment is directed to a vehicle wash system that allowsfor quickly changing (in real time if desired) the chemistry of the washsolution and/or the volume/flowrate of chemical solution applied to anindividual vehicle. The temperature and pressure may also be varied orcontrolled. The goal is to efficiently and effectively clean, dry andshine each individual car or vehicle without having to do a rewash.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary vehicle wash 10. As shown in FIG. 2, anexemplary vehicle wash control system generally includes a communicationnetwork such as the Internet, with which vehicle washes 1-3 (denoted byitem 4) are in communication via control server 2. The variousembodiments of the invention may be operated locally or via a globalcomputer network such as the Internet. In actual use, any number ofvehicle washes 4 may be controlled by the exemplary system. By use ofthe communication network, a mobile device 1, as described below, may beused to provide inputs manually into the system by communicating withcontrol server 2 via the communication network. In an exemplary vehiclewash, mobile device 1 may be used to manually change chemical ratios orflow rates to be used at one or more vehicle washes. If desired,pre-programmed “wash profiles” may be used to facilitate such uses. Forexample, a preexisting wash profile applicable to a certain condition(high pollen count, high insect concentrations, environmentalconditions, etc.) may be used to select and control the proper washproduct flow rates used at one or more vehicle washes in the system.

In the exemplary system of FIG. 2, a weather monitoring station 3 mayalso be used. The weather monitoring station may be used to adjust washconditions or a wash profile at one or more of the vehicle washes 4automatically. As with mobile device 1, weather monitoring station 3interfaces with the system via communication network and control server2. In addition to the remote communications shown in FIG. 2, eachvehicle wash may utilize local sensors to adjust its wash conditions,either in conjunction with, or independent of, any remote inputsreceived via the communication network.

B. Exemplary Telecommunications Networks

The vehicle wash control system may be utilized with anytelecommunications network or other communications network capable oftransmitting data including voice data and other types of electronicdata. Examples of suitable telecommunications networks for the vehiclewash control system include but are not limited to global computernetworks (e.g. Internet), wireless networks, cellular networks,satellite communications networks, cable communication networks (via acable modem), microwave communications network, local area networks(LAN), wide area networks (WAN), campus area networks (CAN),metropolitan-area networks (MAN), and home area networks (HAN). Thevehicle wash control system may communicate via a singletelecommunications network or multiple telecommunications networksconcurrently. Various protocols may be utilized by the electronicdevices for communications such as but not limited to HTTP, SMTP, FTPand WAP (wireless Application Protocol). The vehicle wash control systemmay be implemented upon various wireless networks such as but notlimited to 3G, 4G, LTE, CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, REFLEX,IDEN, TETRA, DECT, DATATAC, and MOBITEX. The vehicle wash control systemmay also be utilized with online services and internet serviceproviders.

The Internet is an exemplary telecommunications network for the vehiclewash control system. The Internet is comprised of a global computernetwork having a plurality of computer systems around the world that arein communication with one another. Via the Internet, the computersystems are able to transmit various types of data between one another.The communications between the computer systems may be accomplished viavarious methods such as but not limited to wireless, Ethernet, cable,direct connection, telephone lines, and satellite.

C. Control Server

The control server 2 may be comprised of any central communication sitewhere communications are established. The control server may becomprised of a server computer, cloud-based computer, virtual computer,home computer or other computer system capable of receiving andtransmitting data via IP networks and the telecommunication networks. Ascan be appreciated, a modem or other communication device may be used orrequired between each of the control servers and the correspondingtelecommunication networks. The control server may be comprised of anyelectronic system capable of receiving and transmitting information(e.g. voice data, computer data, etc.).

The control server gives an operator the ability to accurately controlthe product concentration, flowrate and/or volume level at the vehiclewashes depending on weather conditions or other variables. For example,if it recently rained at the location of a vehicle wash, the operatorcould submit instructions via a mobile device, such as mobile device 1,to increase the cleaning level of the vehicle wash (for example, byusing different chemicals, increasing the amount of time of the wash, orchanging other cleaning variables.). The control server may administersimilar control automatically, for example, by receiving data from aweather monitoring station.

Using the present system, two or more vehicle washes may be controlledtogether. For example, if vehicle washes 1 and 2 are located in city Aand vehicle wash 3 is located in city B, the different weather or otherconditions for each city may be used to control the vehicle washes. Forexample, if it rains in city A while it remains sunny in city B, theoperator (or the control server, automatically), may submit a singlecontrol command to change the vehicle wash settings for vehicle washes 1and 2.

Preset wash profiles may be used to change wash operatingcharacteristics, such as chemical concentration, flow rate, volume ofliquid or product applied, number of wash passes or the speed of washpasses. This system is capable of changing the wash characteristicsimmediately, and in real time, so that individual, consecutive vehiclescan each be washed under a different, unique or separate profile.Profile selection may be automatic, based on preset or environmentalmonitoring inputs. Selection may also be changed by a remote or localoperator, or by a local sensor as discussed below. Profiles may beedited or added locally or remotely via the Internet or other network.

D. Mobile Device

The mobile device 1 may be comprised of any type of computer forpracticing the various aspects of the vehicle wash control system. Forexample, the mobile device can be a personal computer (e.g. APPLE® basedcomputer, an IBM based computer, or compatible thereof) or tabletcomputer (e.g. IPAD®). The mobile device may also be comprised ofvarious other electronic devices capable of sending and receivingelectronic data including but not limited to smartphones, mobile phones,telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile electronicdevices, handheld wireless devices, two-way radios, smart phones,communicators, video viewing units, television units, televisionreceivers, cable television receivers, pagers, communication devices,and digital satellite receiver units.

The mobile device may comprise any conventional computer. A conventionalcomputer preferably includes a display screen (or monitor), a printer, ahard disk drive, a network interface, and a keyboard. A conventionalcomputer also includes a microprocessor, a memory bus, random accessmemory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), a peripheral bus, and a keyboardcontroller. The microprocessor is a general-purpose digital processorthat controls the operation of the computer. The microprocessor can be asingle-chip processor or implemented with multiple components. Usinginstructions retrieved from memory, the microprocessor controls thereception and manipulations of input data and the output and display ofdata on output devices. The memory bus is utilized by the microprocessorto access the RAM and the ROM. RAM is used by microprocessor as ageneral storage area and as scratch-pad memory, and can also be used tostore input data and processed data. ROM can be used to storeinstructions or program code followed by microprocessor as well as otherdata.

A peripheral bus is used to access the input, output and storage devicesused by the computer. In the described embodiments, these devicesinclude a display screen, a printer device, a hard disk drive, and anetwork interface. A keyboard controller is used to receive input fromthe keyboard and send decoded symbols for each pressed key tomicroprocessor over bus. The keyboard is used by a user to inputcommands and other instructions to the computer system. Other types ofuser input devices can also be used in conjunction with the vehicle washcontrol system. For example, pointing devices such as a computer mouse,a track ball, a stylus, or a tablet to manipulate a pointer on a screenof the computer system.

The display screen is an output device that displays images of dataprovided by the microprocessor via the peripheral bus or provided byother components in the computer. The printer device when operating as aprinter provides an image on a sheet of paper or a similar surface. Thehard disk drive can be utilized to store various types of data. Themicroprocessor, together with an operating system, operates to executecomputer code and produce and use data. The computer code and data mayreside on RAM, ROM, or hard disk drive. The computer code and data canalso reside on a removable program medium and loaded or installed ontocomputer system when needed. Removable program mediums include, forexample, CD-ROM, PC-CARD, USB drives, floppy disk and magnetic tape. Thenetwork interface circuit is utilized to send and receive data over anetwork connected to other computer systems. An interface card orsimilar device and appropriate software implemented by microprocessorcan be utilized to connect the computer system to an existing networkand transfer data according to standard protocols.

E. Control Valves

The present invention preferably utilizes control valves to operating ina pulsing manner (i.e. with variable duty cycles) to deliver one or moreproducts at a controlled or intermittent flow rate. It is preferablethat the control valves be comprised of electronic control valves (e.g.solenoid valves) capable of operating at various pulse rates, however,other types of valves may be utilized. For example, the control valvesmay be comprised of a solenoid valve with pulse width modulated powerapplied or a pilot operated solenoid valve (hydraulic or pneumatic).Furthermore, the control valves may be comprised of a servo or steppermotor positioning needle/gate/globe valve or a volumetric closing system(e.g. linear motor/piston displacement). As can be appreciated, any typeof device capable of controlling a flow rate of a liquid chemical usinga duty cycle may be used with the various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a first control valve 40 fluidly connected to thefirst product supply 20. A first pump 30 (or any pressurizing device forliquid flow) may be fluidly positioned between the first product supply20 and the first control valve 40 to provide the first product supply 20in a pressurized manner. The first control valve 40 may be any valvecapable of operating at a first open/close ratio (duty cycle) thatdispenses the first product supply 20 at a desired first flow rate. Thefirst open/close ratio preferably produces a consistent flow rate of thefirst product supply 20 to ensure that the end product dispensed by theproduct dispenser 76 onto the vehicle has the proper ratio of product.

FIG. 3 also shows a second control valve 42 fluidly connected to thesecond product supply 22. A second pump 32 may be fluidly positionedbetween the second product supply 22 and the second control valve 42 toprovide the second product supply 22 in a pressurized manner. The secondcontrol valve 42 may be or include any valve capable of operating at asecond open/close ratio that dispenses the second product supply 22 at adesired second flow rate that has a desired ratio with respect to thefirst flow rate. The second open/close ratio preferably produces aconsistent flow rate of the second product supply 22 to ensure that theend product dispensed by the product dispenser 76 onto the vehicle hasthe proper ratio of products, or amount of product. As can beappreciated, more than two product supplies metered by a correspondingnumber of control valves may be utilized within the present inventionand the illustration in the figures of two control valves is merely forillustration purposes of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In addition, a single first control valve 40 may be utilizedto control a single first product supply 20 within the vehicle wash.Furthermore, three or more control valves may be utilized to controlthree or more product supplies within the vehicle wash.

The control unit may also control the pressure of the output of pumps30, 32 working in conjunction with the electronic valves. If needed, thepumps may each include an electronic pressure control valve, responsiveto control the pressure of each pump's output under manual control or inresponse to an input from the control unit 52. In addition, there may beone or more heaters 24, 26 in line with each product supply. In thisembodiment, depending on the desired wash profile, the flow, pressure,and temperature of wash product may be varied and controlled by thecontrol unit to meet varying wash requirements.

FIGS. 4a and 4b of the drawings illustrate an exemplary duty cycle thatmay be used with the control valves. The first open/close ratio (4a),used for controlling the flow of the first product, and the secondopen/close ratio (4b), for the second product, may be different or thesame depending upon the desired end product ratio. The open/close ratiosmay be comprised of any ratio that produces the desired flow rate ofproduct to the vehicle wash and that the control valve is capable ofoperation.

F. Control Unit

FIG. 3 illustrates a control unit 52 in communication with the firstcontrol valve 40 and the second control valve 42. The control unit 52may be programmable to allow the user to adjust the open/close ratios ofthe control valves 40, 42. The control unit may also be used to controlother wash variables, such as wash speed/duration, fluid pressure andtemperature, and wash product ratios (for example, when multiple washchemical supplies are used). The control unit may be comprised of anyelectronic device capable of performing calculations, storing data,receiving data and/or transmitting data. Alternatively, the control unitmay be a simpler analog or digital device that is capable of receivingan input (such as a sensor input) and adjusting one or more outputs tovary or control the duty cycles at which one or more control valves areoperated.

One or more sensors 56 are preferably in communication with one or morecontrol units, such as control unit 52. The one or more sensors 56detect at least one condition of the vehicle wash such as but notlimited to the end product flow rate being dispensed from the productdispenser 76, past weather conditions, current weather conditions,exterior temperature, room temperature, temperature of the vehicle washproducts, viscosity of the vehicle wash liquid product, concentration ofthe vehicle wash liquid product, humidity, salt, insects, pollen, dirtor chemical concentrations (e.g. deicing and other chemicals)representative of these substances present on vehicles, vehiclecleanliness, level of dirt on a vehicle, the exterior shine of avehicle, chain speed of the vehicle wash, and the like. Other conditionsinclude season, time of day, weather conditions (e.g. rain, snow,temperature, sunny/cloudy/hazy, etc.). Environmental conditions inaddition to those above may include wind, air contamination/pollution,tree sap, organic materials, inorganic materials and the like. Vehicleconditions (or customer request or customer preference) may also includethe amount of dirt on the vehicle, insect accumulation on the front ofthe vehicle, location of dirt accumulation, color/type of soilaccumulation on vehicle (note that soil types based on geography may beaccounted for), color, type, size, and temperature of vehicle. Customerpreferences for a vehicle wash may be stored and read in various mannerssuch as a bar code on a smart phone or RFID tag.

The control unit may control the temperature, pressure, and flow rate ofwash products delivered to the product dispenser, and may also controlnumerous other variables as needed to ensure a thorough wash, such asvehicle speed, conveyor speed, number of passes, nozzle sets, and areaof vehicle to receive wash product (e.g. more wash product delivered tothe front or sides, etc.).

G. Fluid Delivery System

FIG. 3 also illustrates an exemplary fluid delivery system utilizing afirst product supply 20 and a second product supply 22. As shown, afirst line 60 is fluidly connected to the first control valve 40 and asecond line 62 is fluidly connected to the second control valve 42 totransfer the metered first product supply 20 and second product supply22 respectively. The first line 60 and the second line 62 are bothfluidly connected to a combined line 64 that combines the productsupplies 20, 22 and transfers wash products to the product dispenser 76as shown. The product dispenser 76 may be comprised of any dispensingdevice capable of dispensing the products onto a vehicle within thevehicle wash (e.g. spray nozzle). If additional product supplies areutilized, additional lines would be added and joined into the combinedline 64. As an alternative, multiple wash chemicals may be providedindividually via multiple product dispensers or multiple sets of nozzleson a product dispenser. In addition, water under pressure may beintroduced into the product dispenser to mix with the chemical ordetergent wash products. It can be appreciated that two or morechemicals may be combined together in series or parallel.

H. Closed Loop Control Embodiment

A closed loop configuration may be used to increase the accuracy of thewash product being applied to a vehicle. As discussed previously, theflow rate for the first product supply 20 is preferably adjusted basedupon various conditions such as weather, chemical conditions (e.g.temperature, viscosity), current and past weather, surface temperatureof the vehicle, and various other factors. In addition, the flow rate ofthe first product supply 20 may be adjusted by changing the duty cycleof the first control valve based upon real-time feedback from a sensorthat detects the actual flow rate of the first product supply 20 beingdispensed and the desired flow rate of first product supply 20 to bedispensed. This may be accomplished by a real-time flow rate sensor ormeasuring the weight or volume of the amount of first product supply 20dispensed over time. Various types of flow rate sensors may be used todetect the real-time flow rate of the first product supply such as, butnot limited to, a metering orifice, a variable area meter, a rotameter,a velocity meter, a turbine meter ultrasonic meter, a vortex meter, apositive displacement, or other mass or volumetric measurement device.

I. Operation of an Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the overall operation of the presentsystem. In particular, a signal input, either remote via communicationnetwork, or from a local sensor, is received at the control unit. Thedesired first flow rate for the first product supply 20 is determinedeither by a preprogrammed flow rate or a flow rate calculated by thecontrol unit 52 using the signal input. The control unit 52 determinesthe duty cycle needed to produce the desired first flow rate. The dutycycle is calculated utilizing the pressure and flow rate of the firstpump 30, the size of the first control valve 40 and other factorsrelevant to calculating the first flow rate. The control unit 52 thentransmits a first signal to the first control valve 40 therebyactivating the first control valve 40 according to the determinedopen/close ratio. The first signal from the control unit 52 may be apulse width modulated signal resulting in the variation of the averagevalue of the waveform. The average value of the voltage and currenttransmitted to the first control valve 40 is controlled by applyingelectrical power at a desired duty cycle wherein the longer theelectrical power is on the higher the total power is supplied to thefirst control valve 40.

FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate an exemplary open/close ratio for the firstcontrol valve 40 wherein FIG. 4a illustrates a significantly lower flowrate than the flow rate of FIG. 4b . In FIG. 4a , the first controlvalve 40 is only open 250 MS and is closed 750 MS. In FIG. 4b , thefirst control valve 40 is open 500 MS and is only closed 500 MS. Variousother open/close ratios may be utilized. In addition, the open/closeratio used for the first control valve may be static or dynamicdependent upon real-time factors such as, but not limited to, a changein pump pressure, a change in the amount of water being supplied,changes in one or more chemical product conditions (e.g. viscosityand/or temperature of liquid chemical product), change in roomtemperature and the like.

The present system is not limited to dispensing only one first productsupply 20 (with or without water). The present system may be utilized tometer and dispense two or more products as discussed previously,utilizing a corresponding number of control valves. For example, thepresent system may utilize three colored product supplies comprised ofthree primary colored products to provide an infinite amount of coloredproducts to the vehicle wash (e.g. colored wax). In addition, thepresent invention may utilize two or more scented product supplies toprovide various scented outputs to the vehicle wash.

In addition to accurately applying a first product supply 20 to avehicle in general, the first product supply 20 may also be adjusted toapply differing amounts of chemical product to the vehicle in differentlocations of the vehicle. For example, if the lower portion of thevehicle is dirtier than the upper portion, an increased amount ofprewash chemical may be applied to dispensing nozzles directed to thelower portion of the vehicle compared to dispensing nozzles directed tothe upper portion of the vehicle. This reduces the total amount ofchemical needed to properly clean the vehicle. Various other locationsof the vehicle may be treated with different volumes of chemicals suchas the front of the vehicle if a significant amount of bug debris isdetected by a sensor.

Any and all headings are for convenience only and have no limitingeffect. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific termsused herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one ofordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Althoughspecific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic anddescriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Allpublications, patent applications, patents, and other referencesmentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety to theextent allowed by applicable law and regulations.

The data structures and code described in this detailed description aretypically stored on a computer readable storage medium, which may be anydevice or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computersystem. This includes, but is not limited to, magnetic and opticalstorage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs),DVDs (digital video discs), and computer instruction signals embodied ina transmission medium (with or without a carrier wave upon which thesignals are modulated). For example, the transmission medium may includea telecommunications network, such as the Internet.

At least one embodiment of the vehicle wash control system is describedabove with reference to block and flow diagrams of systems, methods,apparatuses, and/or computer program products according to exampleembodiments of the invention. It will be understood that one or moreblocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations ofblocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams, respectively, can beimplemented by computer-executable program instructions. Likewise, someblocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams may not necessarily needto be performed in the order presented, or may not necessarily need tobe performed at all, according to some embodiments of the invention.These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto ageneral-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a processor, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particularmachine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer,processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create meansfor implementing one or more functions specified in the flow diagramblock or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be storedin a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meansthat implement one or more functions specified in the flow diagram blockor blocks. As an example, embodiments of the invention may provide for acomputer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having acomputer-readable program code or program instructions embodied therein,the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implementone or more functions specified in the flow diagram block or blocks. Thecomputer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational elements or steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide elements or steps for implementing the functionsspecified in the flow diagram block or blocks. Accordingly, blocks ofthe block diagrams and flow diagrams support combinations of means forperforming the specified functions, combinations of elements or stepsfor performing the specified functions, and program instruction meansfor performing the specified functions. It will also be understood thateach block of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations ofblocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams, can be implemented byspecial-purpose, hardware-based computer systems that perform thespecified functions, elements or steps, or combinations ofspecial-purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The present system may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it istherefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive. Many modifications andother embodiments of the vehicle wash control system will come to mindto one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains and havingthe benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing description andthe associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that theinvention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed andthat modifications and other embodiments are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims. Although methods and materialssimilar to or equivalent to those described herein can be used in thepractice or testing of the vehicle wash control system, suitable methodsand materials are described above. Thus, the vehicle wash control systemis not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and featuresdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle wash system, comprising: a firstproduct supply of a first wash component; a first control valve fluidlyconnected to the first product supply; a product dispenser fluidlyconnected to the first control valve, wherein the product dispenser ispositioned within a vehicle wash and wherein the product dispenser isconfigured to dispense the first wash component upon a vehicle in thevehicle wash; a flow rate sensor that measures a real-time flow rate ofthe first wash component; and a control unit coupled to the firstcontrol valve and having an input for receiving a signal correspondingto at least one variable affecting vehicle wash effectiveness, whereinthe control unit is in communication with the flow rate sensor, whereinthe control unit is configured to calculate a desired flow rate of thefirst wash component delivered to the product dispenser and a duty cycleof the first control valve based at least partially on the at least onevariable, wherein the control unit is further configured to control theflow rate of the first wash component by varying the duty cycle of thefirst control valve based on the desired flow rate and the real-timeflow rate of the first wash component measured by the flow rate sensor.2. The vehicle wash system of claim 1, wherein the control unit isadapted to change the flow rate substantially in real time based on thedesired flow rate and the real-time flow rate of the first washcomponent measured by the flow rate sensor.
 3. The vehicle wash systemof claim 1, wherein the first control valve comprises an electroniccontrol valve.
 4. The vehicle wash system of claim 3, wherein the firstcontrol valve is comprised of a solenoid valve.
 5. The vehicle washsystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one variable comprises a sensedenvironmental condition.
 6. The vehicle wash system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one variable comprises a sensed chemical level.
 7. Thevehicle wash system of claim 1, wherein the at least one variablecomprises a sensed vehicle condition.
 8. The vehicle wash system ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one variable comprises a velocity of thevehicle in the vehicle wash.
 9. The vehicle wash system of claim 1,wherein the at least one variable comprises a speed of a vehicleconveyor in the vehicle wash.
 10. The vehicle wash system of claim 5,wherein the sensed environmental condition comprises temperature,humidity, precipitation, geographic location, soil composition, time ofday, or time of year.
 11. The vehicle wash system of claim 1, furthercomprising: a second product supply of a second wash component; and asecond control valve fluidly connected between the second product supplyand the product dispenser; wherein the control unit controls a secondflow rate of the second wash component delivered to the productdispenser by varying a duty cycle of the second control valve based atleast partially on the at least one variable.
 12. The vehicle washsystem of claim 11, wherein the first control valve and the secondcontrol valve comprise solenoid valves, and wherein the at least onevariable represents an environmental condition comprising temperature,humidity, precipitation, geographic location, soil composition, time ofday, or time of year.
 13. The vehicle wash system of claim 1, whereinthe control unit further includes an output for controlling a fluidtemperature based at least partially on the at least one variable.